After the slave owners went bankrupt, they all wanted to keep me as a mistress.

"Hey—is water magic supposed to be like this, touching me all over?!"

"What do you, a human, know about water magic! This is how we elves use water magic!"

Chapter Seventy-Five: The Female Knight Reduced to Slavery! The Merchant Lady's Goods are Both Pure and Ruthless!

The next morning, when Mu Qiu woke up early, the first thing she felt was the warm touch of an arm being tightly held in her arms.

He turned his head and saw Vera wrapped around him like an octopus, her long, silvery hair spread across the pillow, and one of her long, smooth legs draped unceremoniously around his waist. She seemed to be lost in some beautiful dream, murmuring indistinctly:

"Hehe...Master...you can't escape this time..."

What kind of dream is this elf having now?

Mu Qiu shook his arm, trying to wake the pendant spirit, but found that she just smacked her lips and hugged him tighter.

He had no choice but to raise his hand and give that firm, bouncy little bottom a light pat.

"Vera, do you still want to take Master's powerful potion?"

"Well?!"

Seemingly having heard some key words, Vera groggily opened her eyes, yawning as she slowly sat up, her loose sleeper slipping down to reveal her fair shoulders.

"Where did Master go this time to get another batch of addictive high-end stuff for the elf girl?"

Mu Qiu stroked his chin, saying uncertainly, "Well, that depends on what kind of things that mysterious merchant lady can sell."

"what……"

Wei stretched and yawned, her beautiful green eyes narrowing into slits, and an expectant expression appeared on her pretty face. "The batch of goods sold at the Water of Life Merchant Guild last time was already very pure. I wonder if there are any even stronger, more potent goods this time?"

"...Although we're discussing potions, why does it feel like we're conducting a black market transaction?"

Mu Qiu couldn't help but complain.

"Because that businesswoman looks like a black market dealer, doesn't she?"

Vera rubbed her sleepy eyes and lazily began, "And those who specifically come to the border to sell are mostly doing so because the source of their goods is shady; they're the kind of potions that can't be sold in big cities at all. They're probably obtained for free through some kind of scheme..."

Mu Qiu glanced at her in surprise: "You know that?"

"Because legitimate potions all have serial numbers."

Vera rested her head on Mu Qiu's shoulder, still seemingly not quite shaken off her sleepiness, and said, "Even if you sell in the black market of a big city, you can still get caught, you know? The black market may be called the black market, but it's not a lawless place. You still have to listen to the local lord."

"Potions that are specifically sold at the border are either rare and dangerous items that legitimate potion shops wouldn't dare sell—selling by illegal potion makers without proper certification—or they are from completely shady sources, so they wouldn't even dare sell them on the black market and could only be sold at the border..."

Mu Qiu touched his chin.

Now that you mention it, the potion in that merchant lady's hand doesn't seem so reliable.

After washing up, changing clothes, and having a meal, he and Vera and the others arrived at the gate of the manor.

Outside the door, the merchant lady dressed in black had been standing quietly waiting, as if she had blended into the shadows.

"Manor Lord, you are indeed very punctual."

Mu Qiu noticed carefully that behind the merchant lady, there was a huge iron cage tightly covered by a thick black cloth.

Could it be a pet?

Or perhaps a mount?

Mu Qiu guessed in his heart.

Speaking of which, it would be great to have a dragon mount. He would like to experience riding on the dragon princess and being a dragon knight.

However, it seems that system funds cannot be used to purchase dragon eggs.

After all, the system funds are only allowed to be used in areas related to slavery.

Once a dragon egg is purchased, it falls under the category of consumption outside the realm of slavery and can only be purchased with personal wealth.

However, if it is a giant dragon branded with the mark of a slave, then it can be purchased openly using system funds.

As Mu Qiu pondered this, he walked to the gate, looked at the merchant lady outside the fence, and asked in a low voice, "Did you bring all the goods this time?"

"of course."

The woman in black nodded slightly. Although her face was blurry, Mu Qiu could sense that she seemed to have smiled gently.

"However, before we proceed with the transaction, please allow me to formally introduce myself—I am an unofficial member of the Witch's House, codenamed [White Dove]."

"Witch's House?"

Upon hearing this name, Vera's expression changed slightly. She subconsciously grabbed her master's arm and took a half-step back.

"……What's wrong?"

Noticing Vera's nervousness, Mu Qiu also subconsciously became alert.

"Master, do you remember the witch I mentioned before?"

Vera leaned close to Mu Qiu's ear and whispered, "The House of Witches is an organization dedicated to protecting witches. The identity of its founder has always been a mystery. It is said to have been founded by a great lord in the abyss, but this has never been confirmed."

"But in any case, getting involved with the Witch's House is definitely not a good thing!"

Vera's expression was somewhat solemn, her beautiful eyes fixed on the black-clad man outside the door, and she continued to whisper: "As is customary, the great purge against witches that occurs every hundred years is about to begin. At that time, those witches will soon be sent to the stake, and anyone who shelters witches or provides them with protection, whether a commoner or a nobleman, will become an enemy of the continent!"

"so serious?!"

Mu Qiu's expression also turned serious, and his heart, which had been at ease, instantly became anxious again.

If that's the case, then the potion in this merchant lady's hand is probably not worth buying!

He didn't want to become a public enemy of the mainland, wanted and hunted down by various countries!

"Well... if she really is 'White Dove,' then it doesn't really matter..."

Vera thought for a moment, then changed the subject and said in a low voice, "The core of the Witch's House is naturally the witch, but its unofficial members are divided into three types: Raven, Nightingale, and Dove."

"【White Doves】are in charge of external transactions, and they often deal in special goods made by witches."

"Not to mention human nobles, even within our elven race, there are quite a few high-ranking elders who secretly trade with the White Dove. Based on our understanding of humans, the number of human nobles who trade with the White Dove is no less than that."

"Therefore, even though each purge is carried out in a grand manner, and temples in various places kill those who harbor witches without exception, they mostly turn a blind eye to those wealthy merchants and nobles who have only made deals with [White Dove]."

Vera pursed her lips and said, "After all, there are just too many nobles who have traded with White Dove. We can't just cleanse them all, can we?"

"Not to mention the nobles, it's said that even the emperor of the Orion Empire received funding from White Dove when he was young. Ultimately, the temple's effectiveness depends on the kings, lords, and nobles in various regions, and the nobles also need to maintain good relations with the merchants..."

Mu Qiu nodded slightly, preparing to ask Vera's opinion: "Vera, do you think we should make a deal with this Miss White Dove?"

"What kind of master asks his slave's opinion every day?!"

Vera pursed her lips and muttered, "In the end, the White Doves are just a group of merchants. The difference between them and ordinary merchants is that they are in cahoots with the Witch's House and have special products produced by the witches."

"Besides, this is on the border... no one will know that you traded with White Dove. Although there is theoretical risk, the actual risk is almost zero, right? Whether or not to trade should be your decision, Master, shouldn't it?"

That's right.

Mu Qiu nodded inwardly.

Moreover, he also possessed the identity of a hero, so the temple dared not breathe on him.

"Then why did you pull me just now?"

Mu Qiu suddenly thought of something and glared at Vera.

"Of course I wanted to remind you!"

Vera rolled her eyes, bumped Mu Qiu's arm with her ample breasts, and snorted, "It's fine to just trade with the White Doves of the Witch's House, but don't get involved with anything else. If you just hang around outside the Witch's House without going in, no one can blame you. But if you actually go in, it'll be hard to clear your name!"

"I see... So should I thank you?"

As Mu Qiu spoke, he walked to the door and looked at the black man.

"Well, Lord Manor Owner, are you still willing to proceed with the transaction?"

Mu Qiu nodded.

“Miss White Dove, my companions and I have already discussed it, let’s proceed with the transaction as planned.”

"Heh heh... As expected, you are no ordinary slave owner."

The black woman let out a low, hoarse laugh, which was clearly not her own voice.

"The goods here are all top-quality. Since you want them, I'll show you what I can do for you."

"Our merchants in the Witch's House are not ordinary merchants. In addition to ordinary goods, we also engage in the business of selling organs and tissues."

"Meow?! An organ and tissue business, meow?!"

Upon hearing this, Luna, who was following behind Mu Qiu, was terrified and immediately burrowed behind him.

Mu Qiu, however, remained expressionless.

Because he had already seen the merchant lady take the goods out of her pocket.

—That was a batch of frozen monster meat.

Although he didn't recognize the magical beast, he was very familiar with the meat: duck heads, beef ribs, foie gras, chicken feet...

Yes, it is indeed a business that sells organs and tissues.

"Fourth-tier magical beast meat is something you'd probably have a hard time finding here. Luckily, I have a batch here. The types of magical beasts are random, since it's hard for us to maintain consistent quality control in this kind of organ or tissue business; we can only maintain consistent pricing."

The black man said in a low voice, "Twenty gold coins for a pound of frozen goods. As for fresh goods... I'm sorry, it's difficult for me to provide you with fresh goods in this place."

Mu Qiu pondered for a moment.

Given Luna and the others' appetites, eating dozens of kilograms of meat a day wouldn't be a problem.

Monster meat... if preserved using magic, it won't spoil for several months, but it certainly won't taste as good as freshly slaughtered monster meat.

"Then let's start with a thousand catties."

Mu Qiu handed over a bag containing 20,000 gold coins, and then the black-clad man chuckled: "Hehe... You are indeed generous. This batch of organs and tissues will be sold to you. I also have a batch of ruthless stuff here that can make young girls of all races addicted. Do you want it?"

Mu Qiu's lips twitched as he looked at the bottles of potions in the merchant's hand.

"So the addictive concoction you were talking about is actually a magic potion?!"

"of course."

The black-clad man said in a matter-of-fact tone, "No professional who has taken potions can resist the temptation of rapid power-ups, let alone the top-quality potions I have here that have absolutely no side effects. Who could resist such temptation? Once you've used it, you'll definitely be addicted..."

Mu Qiu paused for a moment.

Hey, what you're saying actually makes a lot of sense.

"These are samples. One set can help a Black Iron-level professional advance all the way to Gold. The original price was 880,000 gold coins, but now I'm only selling it to you for 180,000 gold coins. I have a total of twelve sets here, for a total of 2,160,000 gold coins. If you buy the whole set, I'll also give you a few bottles of Gold Limit Potion that can help professionals at the peak of Gold advance even further!"

The black man spoke with an air of "You really hit the jackpot, kid."

"That sounds like a pretty good deal..."

Mu Qiu's heart stirred.

He remembered that Vera's promotion from Silver to Gold did not actually cost 180,000 gold coins.

But a higher price is just right; he'd love for the price to be a little higher.

"And there's something else you'll definitely need, something that will send chills down your spine..."

Oh? Something that makes my back feel cold?

Mu Qiu's gaze sharpened, and then he saw the merchant lady slowly take out a magical refrigeration device from her storage ring.

"It can cool your back and keep you refreshed on hot summer days... Not 88,000, not 8,800, just 888 gold coins..."

Isn't this just like an air conditioner from another world?!

Although he really wanted to complain, Mu Qiu still decisively bought twenty of these magical refrigerators, intending to install them in various places throughout the manor.

Soon, every item the merchant lady took out was decisively bought by Mu Qiu.

Just as Mu Qiu was secretly pleased with himself for having spent nearly 2.5 million gold coins, the Black Man suddenly took a step back.

"Oh, by the way, I have one last mysterious item here. I wonder... Lord Manor Owner, would you be interested?"